FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

--

[i]THE STORY SO FAR...

It was over a week ago that Dale was was thrown into the supernatural world. While walking past an agricultural center, he investigated a strange commotion and got attacked by a necro: a demonic creature. He killed it and saved the day but when he followed up on the inicdent, Franklin, an imp, and Franklin's friends took it among themselves to use Dale is a series of mind-altering experiments ending with Dale, in an animalistic state, sleeping with a monster lady.

Dale's embarrassing and eerie encounter that ended with his mind getting drained soured him on the idea of getting involved in the town's supernatural world, but would the feeling last?[/i]

Dale was resting at home after a Monday of work. After the weekend he had, the normalcy of a workday was a blessing. He did his work and went home to relax. With only a few words of greeting for one of his roommates, Dale went to his room and closed the door.

It was time for some privacy. He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, a big black brick thing. It was old but not so old he couldn't browse the internet. Nearly five o'clock-- it was peak masturbation hours for the young man.

He fiddled with his belt, then stopped. Horniness panged inside him but after what happened a couple days ago, the idea of sex was weird to him. He was drugged, dumbed down to a feral state, and then had sex with a demon! Waking up the next morning in a strange forest and completely naked was horrifying!

He took his hands away from his crotch and forgot about looking at porn. His browser loaded up anyway so he wasted time on some forums.

*TAP* *TAP* *TAP*

Dale turned away from screen and checked the window. "What the?"

Outside the window looking in was Franklin, the blue imp. Barely over a foot in height, the fella was dressed in a striped t-shirt, a brown leather jacket, and worn-out olive green slacks.

For Dale, it was too soon to see Franklin again. He sighed, unsure if he wanted to entertain his imp friend's presence. After a second of hesitation, Dale walked over to the window and opened it up. He could barely restrain the anger on his whisper, "And what are you doing here!?"

Franklin took a clawed finger to his undertoothed lips. "Shhhh! Keep it down!"

The imp allowed himself in, his tiny wings fluttering and keeping the creature in the air. Dale rolled his eyes and spoke hushed nothings to the clouds before shutting the window and dropping the blinds, taking a quick peek outside to see if anyone saw Dale's impy friend dropping by.

"What do you want?" said Dale, his volume at a level low enough that his housemates wouldn't be able to hear.

"So yeh wanna get involved in magic 'n' stuff?" said Franklin, "Now's yer chance! Come wit me."

Dale sighed and flomped down on his chair. He shook his head. "Not really. Not after what happened the other day."

"Are ye still sore 'bout dat?" said Franklin. He gestured his hands out at Dale. "Lookit you! Yer [i]fine[/i]. Worst things can happen to a fella who's had his brains borked and paired off widda demon lady!"

Dale's scowl cracked up the side of his face, his eyes glaring at Franklin. "I pissed myself [i]twice[/i]. And then that demon lady had sex with me while my mind was all dumbed!"

Franklin chuckled, and leaned into Dale's face with a sly smile. "You say that like it's a bad thing! I was watching yous go at it and you was [i]really[/i] enjoying yourself! So was [i]she[/i]!"

Dale crossed his arms, and averted his eyes. "I was... [i]hypnotized[/i] into having sex with a demon!"

Franklin hung his shoulders and his face dropped. He hovered over to Dale's shoulder and patted it gently. "Ok, so maybes you're not one t' appreciate a sub-intelligent sexcapade, but if you want to come with me, I can show you something cool!"

'Cool'. The word tingled something within Dale, as much as he hated to admit it. He was still angry and disturbed by the events of last Saturday but the existence of the supernatural was too fascinating to ignore. Much like his curiosity lead him to meet Franklin again a couple days ago, he knew that eventually he would go out searching for the supernatural again anyway.

"Ok," said Dale, getting up slowly and stretching out his arms, "What did you want to show me?"

Stan left the office at 3. What was the point of him staying at the office when everyone underneath him had all the orders they would need for the rest of the day? He left. Stan was the new senior executive and it would have been a waste for him to not take advantage of his privileges like not working a full day.

He got home, changed into a polo shirt and pants, put on his slippers, and went to his home office to put some files away. He could tell that the sexy intern had handled the portfolio he took home with him because Stan could smell her perfume on the paper. He left the office, leaving the door open a crack.

He went downstairs and turned on the TV. He was so proud of the thousands of dollars he dropped on the thing. The picture was so good.

"Damn, I'm so great!" Stan said aloud, to no one.

Something in his basement murmured. He heard a rattling down there but assumed it was a pipe or the boiler. If it was a problem he could call a handyman.

The something climbed the stairs up to the first floor, though, and pushed open the door with its head. Stan looked over and dropped the TV remote. "Holy shit!"

He raced into the kitchen and hid behind the counter, his eyes wide at the thing that just entered his house.

"How in the fuck did a dog get in here?" asked Stan.

Stan was not the kind of person to fight wild animals but he also wasn't the kind of person that would let a stray dog piss on his living room floor. He went to the closet by the front door and hoped he had stashed [i]it[/i] in there. He looked around the hooks and, yes, there was his fishing net.

He picked it up, the grip tight in his hand. He kept an eye on the floor for that creature. He was worried the thing would bite him.

The creature stalked his living room, it facing towards the kitchen knowing that Stan was around the corner. Stan was just as ready to attack as the beast was but for a moment, he got a look at the creature. Was it a dog? It didn't have any eyes and it's tail and legs were like lizard's. What was it?

The time for wondering what it was had concluded. The creature growled and Stan took initiative and slammed the net down over the creature. The net's diameter wasn't wide enough to get the whole creature inside but most of its body was underneath net.

It struggled but Stan held strong, his grip unwavering. All the workouts he put himself through had paid off. He could wrangle a dog!

A strange mark appeared on the "dog's" head, where its eyes would have been. The mark glowed red and caught Stan's eyes. A faint red glow had passed over Stan's eyes.

A feeling of warmth came over Stan, and then a feeling of drunkeness. Did that beer hit him already? He took a hand to his head and noticed his claws were longer than usual, and sharper. He could feel his teeth shifting and sharpening, too.

"Ugh..." he said.

He rubbed his chest and it felt like his pec had gotten bigger. Was he getting buff or was there something wrong with his cognition? His body felt like it was growing. He flexed his arm and the divide below his elbow was deeper. Was his skin changing color?

Thoughts entered his mind. He was having trouble concentrating and all it took was a moment of distraction for Stan to let go of the net and the creature to move away from him, taking the net with it. The creature got its legs trapped in the net so it tripped over.

Stan was consumed by sporadic feelings-- anger and confusion. He wasn't sure what was going on and basic things were lost on him. Where was he that morning? What room was he in? He looked at the walls and couldn't recognize the room.

His arms and hands were growing bigger, filling out his shirt. His skin was turning orange. The floor was moving away from him. He grew upward, a chiseled pack of abs stretching out of a shirt that was getting too small for him.

He had fallen out of his slippers and his feet were getting bigger and their ankles were rising off the ground. Big claws grew at the end of each toe. Standing on his toes had become comfortable.

He growled. His mouth had extended out into a maw, like something off a dog or reptile. His legs were growing and they filled out his pants while his legs stretched out the bottom of the pants. Horns pushed out of the hair on his head.

He roared and looked around. Bit by bit, his world was becoming less familiar. The person known as Stan regressed into a beast and the mutant that stumbled around the room was another person entirely.

The dark creature that caused the transformation in the first place freed itself from the net and looked at Stan, the man now mutant and orcish. Stan crawled on the ground, drool falling from his beastly mouth. The dark monster wasn't going to feel threatened by the large, mutated beast.

Stan looked around, annoyed by the sounds of the television and the lights on the ceiling. He growled at them but they did not stop shining.

He felt a tingle in his bladder, so he leaned forward, relaxed his expression, and wetness burst on his pants. It pooled around his crotch, dripping on the carpet below, and then streamed down his legs. Urine whipped off his pants and formed a puddle at his feet.

He had to go number two, too. [b]*PPPRRRRT!* *ppppt* *pt* *FRRRRT!*[/b] and his bowels unleashed into his underwear and then a [b]*FLOOORRRP!* *fffrrrrt**PLOOOORP!*[/b] and the feces made a mound so big it stuck out the back of his pants. If the creature had a nose, it would have smelled the odor of fresh mutant poop. The smell didn't bug Stan, though.

The smell didn't bug the beast and neither did the feel. He stepped out of the puddle of piss and wandered around, transfixed by the TV for a moment. What was he looking at, his diminished brain couldn't understand. He looked at the small feral creature on the ground and saw an acquaintance, not a rabid dog that invaded his home.

The dark creature wandered off and Stan was left alone. He sniffed the air. Beyond his odor, there was the smell of perfume coming from upstairs, so he went up towards it.

After turning off his computer and trying his best to appear casual for his housemates as he left the place, Dale followed Franklin across the neighborhood, the imp staying out of sight from most people by flying through alleyways and overtop roofs where most people weren't looking. It was hard for Dale to keep track of Franklin sometimes but despite the frustrations, Franklin led Dale to their destination.

Marian Road was not a road that Dale walked down often. It was an uphill road built alongside several large houses on woodsy hillside. Dale felt like an outsider walking the sidewalk, like he was a poor urchin trespassing in a ritzy community.

All the houses' windows were far enough away from the sidewalk that Franklin felt comfortable staying by Dale's side, too small to be spotted accurately.

"So which house is it?" asked Dale.

Franklin pointed at one near the top of the hill. It was wide and had white paneling. He said, "It's that one."

"So what's there?" asked Dale.

"It's a necro," said Franklin.

"What?" said Dale, "One of those shadow monsters? I don't want to see one of those again!"

"It'll be nuttin'!" said Franklin, "You've already beaten the things- [i]twice[/i]! Dis time it'll be a cinch!"

Dale rolled his hand over his forehead. "I thought when you said 'something cool' you meant something I haven't already seen."

"Hey c'mon," said Franklin, "I need your help here."

Dale grumbled. He didn't know what to do but the situation, one involving the supernatural, felt too urgent to ignore so he stayed the course to the house.

The place was large with a smaller second floor on top. There was a big bush in front of the porch. Dale couldn't see into the house's windows-- it was too dark. Dale was nervous about trespassing onto people's property but Franklin urged that he wasn't going to get in trouble.

When Dale suggested looking around for a big branch but Franklin told him, "Dere's better weapons inside."

Dale gazed around the quiet hillside and a chill went down Dale's spine. Being the only two around went from being a blessing to making Dale a little worried. They went around back to the patio and Dale got the sense that he was breaking into a rich person's home when he saw the new furniture and tiled floor. Would Franklin help him if he got in trouble with the police? Dale worried that his imp friend would let him out to dry.

Franklin walked Dale up to a white door with blinds overtop the window. The imp motioned at Dale to open it up and sure enough it was unlocked. Dale flinched for a second expecting an alarm system to go off but nothing did. They walked inside, Dale letting out a tortured exhale.

The hallway was long, white, and had a short staircase up.

"So where is it?" asked Dale.

"I don't know," said Franklin.

"What?" said Dale.

"Just keep dose ears open," said Franklin, "We'll hear from him soon."

"What about the people who live here?" asked Dale, "Are they home?"

"I think it's jus' one guy," said Franklin, "and we don't need to worry about him. We'll be gone before he even notices."

Dale knew Franklin was keeping something from him but hoped they could deal with the necro and get out before any trouble arised.

At the end of the hall there were two doors. Both had windows to see into the rooms. The one room was a large personal gym with a couple treadmills, some weights, and a large matted area. The other door lead into a living space, it looked like. There was a coffee table and some seats with a few bookshelves around the room but Dale couldn't see much more except that there was a kitchen on the other side of the space.

"Where is it?" asked Dale.

"Iunno, kid," said Franklin, "We's gotta go search for it."

Dale looked back into the gym. He needed a weapon to take the thing out and a gym might have had something dangerous. He turned the handle and the door clicked a little too loud for his liking. The door opened and he walked into the gym. The smell of freshener caught his nose and the room was cooler than the hall. The sound of a vent whirring was the only thing to be heard.

He walked around the room. Despite the big space there were only a few things in that room. Aside from the things he spotted earlier, there was a shelf of barbells against the wall. He picked one up. It was heavy... and dangerous... but he would want some range between him and the necro, so he put the thing down and continued a search.

"Anything, kid," said Franklin, "Don't be choosy!"

"I want something bigger than a barbell," said Dale, "I mean... [i]longer[/i]."

Franklin chuckled, "Yeh, we all's want something bigger and longer!" The imp broke into a chuckle.

Dale walked up to the exercise machine. The weights themselves wouldn't be very easy to handle but Dale looked at the handle hanging about the seat. He took a finger to the knot and- yes! It unscrewed and Dale was able to remove the bolt and take off the bar.

"Is that heavy enough to be a weapon?" asked Franklin.

Dale took it in his hands, holding it like a mighty blade. "I think so. It's got the length I want."

"Okie doke," said Franklin, "Now where's the necro?"

There was another door in the room, one facing towards the depths of the house. Approaching it, Dale felt dread as there was no window to peek through to see if the coast was clear. He walked up and leaned close to hear anything.

There was [i]SOMETHING[/i]!

No, upon listening more he realized it was the television left on. Was somebody home? He turned the handle on the door so slowly it didn't emit a sound, and pushed on it at the speed on one inch per couple seconds.

The sound of the TV heightened and Dale peered into the room. It was another living space with a couple bright peach couches. One was fronted with a glass coffee table. There were counters on the edges of the room with pictures and other trinkets on top. There was an old fashioned record player with some vinyls stacked beside it.

There was the kitchen again, the one he saw from the doorway in the hall. The kitchen- mostly white surfaces with some dark brown details- had its light left on.

Having the door open and stepping into the room, Dale could see what was making all the noise. Standing on a minimalistic wooden stand was a huge flatscreen television. Dale didn't recognize the show that was playing-- it was a cop show it looked like-- but the picture was incredibly crisp.

"Wow!" said Dale, "A flatscreen!"

"We don' have time ta admire the guy's TV!" said Franklin.

Dale sighed and looked around for a remote. There was one on the floor next to some slippers and a puddle. When he got close he was hit with a foul odor.

"Oh god," said Dale, "I think it's piss!"

"Piss, huh?" said Franklin. The imp got a whiff of it and confirmed. The imp wanted to make a joke but a stray puddle of urine was unusual and a sign of trouble.

Dale picked the remote up off the floor and wiped it on the carpet to make sure it wasn't covered in any pee. He stood up and guessed the Off switch. The TV turned off and silence fell on the room.

He and Franklin kept their ears open for anything. At first, there was nothing, but while they spread out and checked the basement door and kitchen, there was a thump upward. It came from the second floor! Dale and Franklin directed their glances to the roof. Was there something up there?

"We should check upstairs," said Franklin, keeping his voice low.

Dale looked around. Did this guy have a fire poker? There wasn't anything in sight, nothing to replace the bar he grabbed from the gym. Franklin looked around from the stairs but Dale looked around the kitchen. He found a set of knives and unsheated them to see if they were better than his blunt instrument.

Franklin came over to Dale, angry, "I thought you's said length wuz important! You aren't gonna find nothing very long from there."

Dale sighed and gave up on finding a long knife to wield. The two looked around the bottom floor and Franklin found the stairs up in the corner of the living space. Dale followed behind but when he realized he was going upstairs to where a necro was, he lost his nerve.

The imp noticed him lagging behind. "[i]C'monnnnn![/i]" said Franklin, raising his voice before quieting himself for the sake of caution. "Think dis body can whack a necro hard enough to kill it?"

Dale gulped and followed Franklin up the stairs. The stairs were fully carpeted and Dale hoped they masked his footsteps. He climbed the stairs slowly and he scanned the second floor above when it got to eye level. The second floor was two hallways stretching out from the stairwell in an L shape.

Nothing was walking the hallways. Where was the monster?

Dale took the floor, the hallway carpeted the same white color as the stairwell. The two kept their ears open for any noise but couldn't hear anything until there was another loud thump. It startled Dale but he repositioned his hands on the bar.

All you have to do is whack it on the head, Dale told himself.

What hall to explore? What did it matter? He picked one and walked down it. Every one of the golden brown wooden doors was closed and not a sound was heard.

Dale walked up to a door and put his hand on the knob. Even turning it could have given away his position to the necro. Dale removed his hand and went down the other hall. Any twist of the knob or knock could have given away their position to the necro and set it up for a sneak attack. Dale didn't want to risk it.

"Whaddya doin', kid?" said Franklin.

"I'm..." Dale had no idea how to explain what he was doing, and they didn't have to time to unfold what he meant. He ignored Franklin and walked down the other hallway. Like the hall before, all the doors were closed. All except one.

Dale crept up to the door-- it was open an inch. He looked inside and saw it might have been a kind of studio. There was an easel and a worn table with nothing on it. There was another door inside the room on the side wall. Dale tried to see more of the room but couldn't. He took a second to listen closely for anything then pushed the door open. Scanning over the remainder of the room-- shelves with paints on them and other craft supplies-- but there was nothing there. The room was empty.

Franklin fluttered in before Dale. He turned to the human. "Whaddya tryin' to do?"

Dale sighed. "I am being careful. If I open doors, then--"

There was a noise. It came from the other door. The door inside the room had a window and when Dale and Franklin walked over to see what was inside, they saw a person-- or what [i]was[/i] a person. It was humanoid but had monstrous features on its body. It had horns out of its hair and a muscular tone over its orange body. It walked around on digitigrade reptilian feet.

It was huddled in the corner, trying to dig into the floor and scratching up the carpet. It turned towards the door that Dale peeked in from and Dale got a look at the creature's face. It was very human aside from a snout that looked like something a gargoyle would have. In fact the creature's form resembled gargoyles from lore closely.

The human and imp dropped below the window before the thing saw them.

Dale moved away from the door before he whispered to Franklin, "What is it?"

"Dat's a human," said Franklin, "or at least, it [i]wuz[/i]. You can thank the necro fer turning him into a wilder."

They went back up to the window and peaked inside the room. It might have been office with its professional features and abundance of papers. The demon was tearing up books that looked formal enough to be records. The room was otherwise bare.

The demon had torn out of any shirt he was wearing but his slacks were still on his legs, even if the bottoms were shredded and the feral creature had evacuated a bladder into them. There was a bulge, too.

Dale backed away again. "What do you we do about [i]that[/i]?"

Franklin rubbed his chubby chin. "Ya know... that kind of mutation... it kinda wears off. We take care of de necro and eventually de wilder reverts back tah whatever fella he wuz."

"Is he gonna be ok?" asked Dale.

Franklin peeked through the window at the demon. Those fangs and claws were a great danger to any uninvited guests. He went back down to Dale. "Let's jus' worry about us few now. Comprende?"

Dale nodded and thought for a moment. Where was the necro then? They went back out into the hall the way they came. A systematic search was in order. Dale walked down the hall and came to another door. He gripped the bar and put his other hand on the knob and turned, slow as he could so he wouldn't make noise.

Every click of the knob made Dale nervous and the way the door creaked when it opened shot a shiver up his spine. What kind of room was this one? There were lots of cardboard boxes. It was a storage room, Dale assumed. The carpet had stains on it and looked dirty.

Other than a few shelves and a couch in the corner, there was nothing else in that room.

"Not in here," said Dale.

The room was lit by the light coming from outside. Dale looked out the window at a roof that covered the first floor. There was a flower pot on a slant hanging off the roof.

There was a clanging sound. It came from below. Who was on the floor below? Franklin and Dale left the room.

"Isn't there some kind of tracking device you can get?" said Dale.

"Yeh," said Franklin, "but they're only accurate enough to find them in a neighborhood, not a singular house."

There was a [b]*SMAAAAASH!*[/b] just as Franklin and Dale passed by the art room, the door inside blew open, splinters and shattered glass everywhere. Dale was struck with paralysis! Into the center of the art room, knocking over to easel, there was the wilder. He stared his razor glare at the human and imp.

The wilder growled and was too scared to even scream! The wilder walked towards Dale, and Dale reached and closed the door between them. The boy was so startled he forgot to let go of the knob after closing the door.

Franklin slapped his cheek. "Getta grip, kid! Or lose it, even!"

Dale let go of the knob. He was still for a moment before he dashed to the stairwell. As he raced down the stairs and the top floor fell out of view, Dale saw the wilder's arm punch through the art room door, a sheet of wood smacking on the wall on the other side of the hall.

"We gotta get out of here!" said Dale.

"Not until we get dat necro!" said Franklin.

They returned to the ground floor. The clanging: was it the necro?

Dale gazed over at the kitchen for a moment before noticing a wet feeling in his pants. He looked down to see wetness streaming down his legs.

"Ugh!" whimpered Dale.

Franklin looked at the human's wet spot and scoffed. "I'm sure there wuzza bathroom around heres somewhere, kid!"

Dale scowled at Franklin. "Quit making fun!"

Something crashed in the kitchen, almost getting Dale to do a number two in his pants. He and Franklin looked over to see a black creature walking around the kitchen floor. It was the necro. Eyeless face, reptile tail and legs. It hadn't noticed Dale or Franklin.

Dale gripped the bar and slowly walked to the kitchen, his steps quiet. This was the easy part, he told himself. As he turned the corner, he got a good look at that necro walking on the kitchen floor between the counters.

The boy stood there staring at the creature, warm wetness on his legs.

"Now, kid!" shouted Franklin.

This got the necro's attention. He turned to Dale and screeched.

Dale screamed.

The necro ran up to Dale's leg and bit at him, but Dale jumped back quick enough to dodge the attack. The thing was too close for Dale to get a good whack at it so he slammed the "hilt" of the bar down on the necro's head. It hit but the necro didn't seem affected.

Dale jumped back again and pointed the bar at the necro. The necro hissed at him. Dale took a swing but the necro hopped out of the way. The necro charged at Dale's legs and Dale strafed forward, letting the monster bypass him. Dale tried swinging his weapon at the necro but he bumped the bar on the couch behind him and had to re-grip the weapon before dropping it.

The necro hopped on a table nearby and jumped at Dale's head.

Dale screamed and brought his arms up to block the attack and the necro clinged to Dale's arm, hanging off his body like a rabid wolverine! Dale whimpered as he tried to shake the creature off of him. Franklin tugged at the necro's head-- anything to get it off his human companion.

The necro's claws scratched Dale's arm and the boy was terrified. He felt the cold hand of death creeping on him. His first encounter with a necro never went this bad.

He wasn't ready to lay down and die, though. Keeping the snarling monster at bay, he looked over at the corner of the wall and sidestepped towards it to swing the necro against it, slamming the creature against a thermostat. The necro fell on the floor, dazed.

With the bar still in his hand, Dale raised it upward and heaved it downward onto the necro! Was the necro dead?

The necro hissed up at Dale. It would have glared if the creature had eyes. He snipped at Dale's leg again but Dale stonewalled the pain. Dale jabbed the necro with the bar and took a step back to raise the bar again and slammed it down with a thud that made Dale shiver.

The necro lain on the ground, not moving. After a second, a wispy vapor came off of its body and the necro's form began to crumble. It broke down, the body losing its shape and the necro melted into the floor.

"Dat's it," said Franklin.

There was a growl. Franklin and Dale looked towards the stairs and coming down them was the wilder. The wilder raised his head to snarl towards the two intruders.

Dale hit the bricks into the kitchen, hearing thumps and a ruckus behind him. Oh God, the wilder was trailing him! Dale ran down the kitchen and took a left into another room. A closet maybe, with all the coats hanging on the walls. There was another door in the closet leading back in the living room Dale could guess but he heard the wilder rampaging through the kitchen so Dale ripped open that door and went through it.

The wilder peeked his head into the closet and glared at Dale again. Dale screamed and went into the living space, slamming the door behind him. There was the stairs, right in front of him. He raced up them and walking around the railing, he looked down at the first floor-- the door he had just shut and Dale got to see the wilder tear through that door just like the one to the art room.

There was no time to think. Dale took refuge in the closest door. The room? It was the bedroom, it seemed. A master bedroom with its size but the bed was not very large or decorated. It was small and simple. There was a cabinet and dresser-- it must have been the owner's.

"I'm getting out of here," said Dale.

"We shoul' prolly wait to see if that guy is going to revert back tah human," said Franklin.

"I don't care!" said Dale, "I'm getting out of here!" He looked below at his pants. "As soon as I get changed."

Franklin chuckled. "Don' wanna run outside with your drawers all peed in, huh?"

Dale wriggled his legs around and grimaced. "Not just peed."

The boy walked over to the dresser and ripped open some drawers until he found some pants and underwear. They looked about his size but he could handle something not fit perfectly anyway. He took his things out of his pockets and went to a corner to undress, taking off his pissy pants and crapped underwear. He looked around for something to wipe himself down and had to settle for some tissues and handsoap. Franklin watched as the human boy cleaned up his little accident, trying not to crack any jokes.

Dale strapped on the pants and underwear. They fit nicely and were comfortable, not that Dale was in any mood to care about that.

"How do we get out of here?" asked Dale, putting his wallet into his new pants.

"Well..." said Franklin, "dat's a good question tah ask after runnin' up de stairs."

Going back downstairs and trying to get out the way they came in-- the wilder would probably meet them along the way out. How was Dale going to get out of there? Dale then remembered the roof in the storage room. He could get out onto the roof and climb down onto the ground and get away! He didn't know how easy it would have been to jump down from the roof but he imagined it would have been pretty easy compared to going face to face with a huge monster.

Dale went back to the door he entered the bedroom from and opened it-- very slowly. Was the wilder upstairs yet? He didn't see the wilder around so he moved as quickly and quietly as he could to the end of the hall where the storage room was. The door to the art room was in splinters. Dale walked over the remains scattered across the carpet.

There was a growl from below. The wilder was still down there, but Dale worried it was only a matter of time before the wilder took the second floor again.

With hands as deft as a surgeon's, Dale opened up the storage room-- the knob so quiet00 and slipped in with Franklin. He closed the door.

"Now wut?" said Franklin.

"I'm getting out of here," said Dale.

He walked up to the window leading out to the roof. It was big enough for Dale. He dragged a table up to the wall but that's when Dale noticed that the window wasn't openable. There wasn't a switch nor a level to pull. It was solid as the wall.

"What am I going to do?" asked Dale.

Franklin fluttered down to the corner of the window and tapped a bolt. "You could unscrew it."

He first tried with his hands but the screws were too tight. Around the room were boxes of things. There had to be a solution in one of them! He opened up one box and it was all china, wrapped up in newspaper. Another box was old VHS's. Another was odds and ends and Dale waved his arm around inside to shift things around and find something.

Dale took out a metal protractor and brought it to the window. It fit into the screw slot so Dale levered it and the screw came loose. After a few more pulls and Dale was able to take out the screw with his fingers. That was only one screw though.

Worried that the wilder was sneaking up on him, he took to the next screw. That one was stubborn. The protractor kept snapping out of the slot. He had to press down into the window and turn to get the screw to surrender. A few more pulls, though, and that screw was loose too.

The last two screws came off easy. The window popped up when Dale loosened the last screw. Dale removed the window and the gust of wind that came through was the most beautiful breeze he could ever know. The smells of day took his nose. It was the smell of life.

He put the window on the ground and climbed up the table. How was he going to get through this thing? The window was a little high but he was able to throw his leg through and step down onto the roof on the other side of the wall. Being very careful not to toss himself down the slope, he grabbed onto the sill and brought the other leg through. He sat himself against the wall facing down the slope.

Franklin came out with him and watched the human boy slide across the roof, the shingles underneath cracking and groaning at the human's weight. He went to the edge along the wall and looked down. There was nothing below but dirt covered in leaves. He traveled down the slope, gripping the trough for any amount of security.

At the edge of the roof there was that bush he saw earlier. The jump was higher than Dale would have preferred, looking maybe eight feet. If he jumped, would he hurt his legs? Would he sprain or break a bone? The confidence that he had on the inside was gone. A part of him wanted to go back and face the wilder over taking a plunge.

"Try tah aim for de bushes," said Franklin.

Dale took a breath in, psyched himself up, then pushed himself off the ledge. He scraped the trough at the end of the roof and felt weightless for a second before landing his legs inside the bush. The branches broke his fall somewhat and he hit the ground without much pain, although he heard some clothing tear.

"Oh thank fucking God!" said Dale.

He walked out of the bush and saw that his new pants had a rip. He was on solid ground, though. He ran away from the house to the sidewalk, and didn't look back.

Dale walked in silence. Franklin trailed alongside with him. Dale's relief of having escaped danger was followed by the horror of having been in the situation at all. How big was that wilder? Seven feet? How easy would it had been for the wilder to claw Dale's chest and kill the young idiot.

"Dat went ok," said Franklin.

"Ok?" said Dale, "I nearly died! I totally shit myself!"

Franklin saw that Dale was shaken by the experience but the imp had seen his share of danger and didn't take it too seriously. It was a necessary step for anyone dealing with necros to be scared by the experience.

"Next time won' be so bad!" said Franklin.

"Next time!?" said Dale, "I'm not doing this again!"

"Kid, I--"

"Forget it!" Dale ran off.

Franklin watched the kid dash down the sidewalk. There was nothing the imp could do, but he also knew that it was not going to be long before he saw his human friend again. Franklin took to the skies and flew off.

--